 | |
| Author | Andrew Linzey |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Subjects | Animal rights, theology |
| Publisher | SCM Press |
Publication date | 1994 |
| Pages | x + 214 |
| ISBN | 978-0-334-00005-1 |
| OCLC | 1164872852 |
Animal Theology is a 1994 book by the ethicist and theologian Andrew Linzey, that examines the treatment and status of animals from a theological perspective. It was published by SCM Press in the United Kingdom.
In the book, Linzey reconsiders what Christians see to be God's original plan for humanity's ruling of nature. He argues against previous conceptions of this connection which have been used to justify animal cruelty, instead claiming that such a relationship instead implies that the mission laid out by God is a model of generosity towards the oppressed and vulnerable, which is applicable to both humans and other animals.
The American philosopher Daniel Dombrowski, described the book in positive terms, stating that "what Linzey calls the 'generosity paradigm'" is a valuable concept that Christianity can contribute to the animal rights debate. [1]
Bronislaw Szerszynski criticised Linzey's view regarding "animal experiments, hunting, meat-eating and genetic engineering", summing it up with the phrase "don't do it", as "too absolutist", for failing to acknowledge the complexities of the modern moral landscape. [2]
Linzey's book was reviewed from three different perspectives in the Baptist theological journal Review & Expositor: theological, Old Testament and New Testament. Sally Smith Holt described Animal Theology as a "worthwhile endeavor in Christian scholarship", that will nevertheless, "not convince all Christians to become vegetarians". [3] Mark McEntire claims that the Old Testament lacks sufficient content to be a basis of Linzey's generosity ethic. [4] David D. May in his review, drew attention to Linzey's repudiation of elements of the New Testament, stating "special pleading does not do justice to text-segments that would be problematic for an animal theology." [5]
Animal Theology was first published by SCM Press in 1994. [6] It has been translated into French, Spanish, Italian and Japanese. [7]
Naboth was a citizen of Jezreel. According to the Book of Kings in the Hebrew Bible, he was executed by Jezebel, the queen of Israel, so that her husband Ahab could possess his vineyard.
Andrew Linzey is an English Anglican priest, theologian, and prominent figure in Christian vegetarianism. He is a member of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Oxford, and held the world's first academic post in Ethics, Theology and Animal Welfare, the Bede Jarret Senior Research Fellowship at Blackfriars Hall.
Richard John Bauckham is an English Anglican scholar in theology, historical theology and New Testament studies, specialising in New Testament Christology and the Gospel of John. He is a senior scholar at Ridley Hall, Cambridge.
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Harold Walter Hoehner was an American biblical scholar and was professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary.
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John Edgar Goldingay is a British Old Testament scholar and translator and Anglican cleric. He is the David Allan Hubbard Professor Emeritus of Old Testament in the School of Theology of Fuller Theological Seminary in California.
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The relationship between Christianity and animal rights is complex, with different Christian communities coming to different conclusions about the status of animals. The topic is closely related to, but broader than, the practices of Christian vegetarians and the various Christian environmentalist movements.
Beverly Roberts Gaventa is Distinguished Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Baylor University and Helen H.P. Manson Professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis Emerita at Princeton Theological Seminary.
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Clair Susan Linzey is a British theologian and ethicist, editor and writer. She is the Frances Power Cobbe Professor of Animal Theology at the Graduate Theological Foundation, Deputy Director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and the director of their annual summer school, as well as a Research Fellow in Animal Ethics at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. Linzey is also co-editor, with her father, of the Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series and the Journal of Animal Ethics. She specialises in animal theology, animal ethics, environmental ethics, systematic theology, feminist theology and Christian moral thought.
Luise Schottroff was a German New Testament and feminist scholar. She was born in Berlin, Germany, and her father was a pastor in the Confessing Church. Schottroff studied theology at the University of Mainz, and then pursued a doctorate at the University of Göttingen, completing her degree in 1960. Her dissertation was entitled, "Die Bereitung zum Sterben: Studien zu den frühen reformatorischen Sterbebüchern." She then became an assistant professor in the faculty of Evangelical theology at the University of Mainz, in 1961. She completed her habilitation at the University of Mainz in 1969. Schottroff taught at the University of Mainz until 1986, reaching full professor by 1973. She then taught at the University of Kassel from 1986 to 1999. Also in 1986, she was a co-founder of European Society of Women in Theological Research (ESWTR), formed to support women scholars. She taught at the Pacific School of Religion, in Berkeley, California, in the United States, as a visiting professor from 2001 to 2005.
William Francis May was an American ethicist, academic, theologian, and ordained Presbyterian minister. His work focused primarily on questions of medical and bioethics, professional ethics in general, and public responsibility and policy.
